ISDF Campaign
The ISDF Campaign of Battlezone II comprises the first part of the storyline, containing the first fourteen missions. The missions occuring after Fanning the Fire are mutually exclusive; only one of the two endings can occur. Intro Cinematic Voyager II, launched by NASA in 1977, is just beginning to reach the edges of the solar system by the late 1990s. As it enters orbit over the Dark Planet, it begins to scan the surface. Zooming in to an area of high activity, it very quickly picks up an incoming missile. Despite activating its self-defence mode and firing on the projectile, the satellite is destroyed. At a nearby base on Pluto, the engineer monitoring the satellite reports to his superior, Major Manson, that he has lost contact. Upon hearing that the satellite was fired upon, Manson heads into the facility where the satellite was monitored, ordering his squadron to continue to patrol. After a momentary encounter with an unrecognised unit, Delta Squad continue on patrol. Moments later, Delta Command is destroyed and Delta One soon follows. A squadron of Scion Warriors appear through the smoke and launch an attack on the base, quickly disabling its defences. Seeing what is happening, Manson quickly retreats to the communications facility to send a distress call to ISDF Command and co-ordinate the evacuation of the base. Trivia *The "unidentified" Scavenger encountered early on in the intro is actually an early model of the ISDF Scavenger. Presumably a Scion Scavenger should have been used instead, but its presence is regardless never explained. *The weapons used during the intro differ significantly from those seen in-game. Scion Plasma appears green and ISDF Plasma appears blue, and one Warrior seems to be wielding a chargeable weapon similar to the MAG Cannon. This is Not a Drill After contact is lost with Cerberus Base on Pluto, the AAN vote to send the ISDF Second Fleet to investigate. Fearing Pax Kossieh and the AAN will use the investigation's outcome to sieze control over the ISDF, General Bradock sends a message ahead to Manson and orders him to make sure Cerberus appears to be a scout base, before proceeding to lead the investigation and search-and-recovery mission himself. Lieutenant John Cooke, a member of Orange Squad and Secret Operations, is amongst the first to land on Pluto with his commander Yelena Shabayev, her other wingman Lt. Simms, and Commander Miller and the rest of Red Squad. After splitting up with Red Squad, Simms is ordered to take a path to the east of Cooke and Shabayev. He soon picks up an unidentified signal heading north along the same path, which Shabayev and Cooke intercept when their paths converge; when the object (a Scion Guardian) opens fire on Shabayev, it is promptly destroyed. Shabayev identifies the remains of the outpost from the other side of a ridge and attempts to contact SkyEye, but fails to make contact due to radio interference. Instead heading inside the base's perimeter, Simms comments that it is remarkably heavily armed for a scout outpost and departs to commence a perimeter sweep, while Shabayev orders Cooke to locate the communications building as she checks the base's tunnel network. Once Cooke has located the building, Shabayev is quick to notice some abnormal readings originating from within. Investigating, Cooke finds Manson within, apparently injured, who informs Orange Squad that there are hostiles all over the area and jamming ship-to-shore communications. Simms soon picks up an enemy craft in his area; the two Sentries begin to attack him as Shabatev and Cooke are en-route to provide support. Orange Squad flee back to the outpost expecting an imminent attack, with Cooke splitting off to intercept a pair of incoming Scion Scouts along the way. As Orange Squad return to the outpost, they receive a mayday from Red Squad, who have similarly come under attack. With Simms' Thunderbolt having suffered heavy damage, Cooke and Shabayev are left to assist Miller, one of whose wingmen is killed by two Sentries just as they arrive. They succeed in saving Red One, and Cooke quickly heads out again to recover a Service Truck she had located, fending off several more Sentries in the process. Trivia *The dropship's magnetic locks holding the player in place are in fact MITS mines placed on the terrain below. A Simple S&R The ISDF investigation of Cerberus Base turns up a small collection of vehicles modified for mining duty, but no evidence that mining has been occurring on Pluto; suspicious, Shabayev requests that full information about the base be given to field commanders, while Braddock delays the investigation in order to confer with Manson. The forces on the ground, meanwhile, are left to activate the power grid in an unexplored section of the base near where they initially arrived, 40 kilometres south of the site of the initial attack. Exploring the area around the base, Cooke and Shabayev quickly come into contact with a Scion Builder constructing a Jammer. After destroying the Jammer and fending off incoming Sentries, the pair follow the fleeing Builder to another Jammer. Once it is destroyed, they proceed to the site of the power grid to the west. Upon arrival, and having fought off the occupying Scion forces, Shabayev commandeers a Constructor to build a new power generator, bringing Cerberus Base close to operation. Trivia * Shabayev is the only individual known to be able to pilot Constructors. We Have Hostiles With the survivors of the initial attack silent out of fear, orders or ignorance, investigation into the enemy forces reveal very little. It is discovered, however, that they are similar to the ISDF, which bases designed for quick construction and removal but with bio-metal technology several years more advanced, as demonstrated by their crafts' morphing abilities. The investigation also suggests that the ISDF may only be facing an expeditionary force. Urged on by this information, Braddock sends a message to a mysterious figure he addresses as "Burns", saying that they know how to contact him if they have something to say. Inside Cerberus Base, Cooke and Shabayev begin to sweep the tunnels and buildings respectively around the power grid. In doing so, Cooke discovers a Hauler making away with an unusual artefact; the object's discovery leads Shabayev to realise the Cerberus base was anything but a scout outpost. Before Shabayev can do anything about her discovery, she and Cooke receive an urgent message from Commander Miller, who was isolated by enemy forces while out with Manson and Simms. Shabayev has Cooke use the Relay Bunker to locate the squad for her, before departing to recover them. While she is away, Braddock contacts Cooke directly and orders him to defend the artefacts, claiming them to be ISDF crates. Cooke fends of several waves of Scion forces and defends both the crates and the base before Shabayev can return with the stray units. Once they have returned, Braddock deploys a Recycler to assist them in taking back the area. Too Hot At Cerberus Base's technical center, investigators discover technical information on the Scions that pre-dates the attack on the Voyager II probe covering their craft and communications but with no record of prior conflict. A brief description of their social structure refers to the aliens as the Scions, and to a leader called the Padishah. A message from this leader is intercepted by the ISDF at around the same time, though the transmission is garbled and only a few words and phrases can be made out; "dark planet" "ultimate destiny", and "our mission will proceed". Meanwhile, Braddock sends a message to Cooke, congratulating him on defending the ISDF crates and warning him that all of his men must be willing to lay down their lives to defend ISDF technology, as the Scions are a dangerous threat. With Cerberus back online, some of Braddock's forces begin to advocate leaving Pluto, as they should never have been there in the first place. Braddock, however, is determined to launch a counter-attack. As Manson and Blue Squad head out on a patrol, Shabayev is left with a Recycler to begin organising a defence and constructing a base. She takes the opportunity to introduce Cooke to the process, giving him responsibility over controlling and defending a Scavenger. Manson soon reports to Braddock that his forces are taking heavy casualties. Braddock recalls Orange Squad to their Recycler to act as reinforcements, ordering Shabayev to rendezvous with Manson elsewhere, leaving Cooke to defend the Recycler and Scavenger alone. Eventually, Cooke is ordered to retrieve a modified sniper rifle from the Armory and proceed to a Relay Bunker to the north. Once he is there, Braddock explains the situation; Green and Blue Squads are shepherding the remaining Scion forces towards him and he is to use his sniper rifle to plant a tracer on one of their ships. Once Cooke does so, the enemy column attempts to destroy the bunker he was hiding in; the pursuing forces arrive in time to drive them back to their retreat vessel, which the ISDF are able to track to a previously unknown planet on the edge of the solar system,referred to officially as the Dark Planet. The last discoveries made by the investigation into the assault on Cerberus Base before it was uprooted revealed that the Scions did not have any significant foothold on Pluto, and raised the idea that their forces were delivered there from elsewhere. Several Scion cadavers were also discovered; as no injuries were found, they were presumed to have been victims of illness. Trivia * Braddock orders Cooke to fire a sniper rifle round into the canopy of the enemy craft to disable its occupant, despite the rifle Cooke was given not being capable of this. The Dark Planet As the ISDF approach the Dark Planet, Braddock orders Manson to remove a quarry on the surface before any intelligence officers can pick up on it, while publicly maintaining that he is to lead the landing party. Shabayev, meanwhile, remains irritated, as Blue Squad didn't did not require her assistance. Upon landing, Shabayev makes a brief check of the landing zone perimeter before leaving Cooke on defence and setting up a base, until lack of visibility forces her to put Cooke on resource collection while she manages the immediate area. It isn't long before Cooke encounters a heavily defended pool, so Shabayev constructs a factory so he can take the defences out with Jackals. Once this is done, Manson tasks him with a special assignment; intelligence has discovered an alien structure that must be destroyed. Once Manson, his two wingmen (Sergeants Masiker and Zdarko) and Cooke reach the object, one of the sergeants comments that the building looks very much like one of their own, but Manson is quick to shoot him down and remind him that they are not there to ask questions. Cooke plants a satchel charge on the object and destroys it. With no formal report having been made on the object, the ISDF investigators take samples of the remains for investigation. Unfortunately, while Manson and his wingmen were occupied, some smaller squads were overrun by the Scions. Trivia * The object Cooke is ordered to destroy is clearly of ISDF origin, but is referred to variously as "Quarry", "Excavator", "Drilling Rig" and "Teleportal Device". The Wormhole The investigation into the destroyed ISDF building is able to prove nothing conclusively bar that it once bore the ISDF insignia, though a Jackal pilot who was operating in the area identified it as a mine before he was killed in combat. Charon Base, the ISDF's new emplacement on the Dark Planet, is nearing the point where it can be used to stage a full attack on the Scions. Cooke, having been criticised by Shabayev for his unexplained disappearance the previous day, joins the rest of Orange Squad as reserve and defence to prevent the Scions from flanking Green Squad as they push towards the planet's last Scion base. While Cooke is helping to defend against an attack from the front, a small wing breaks through the perimeter to the west to attack the exposed flank, forcing him to reposition his forces. Once a lull in the combat appears, Manson informs Shabayev that the Extractor supplying the Scion base has been located. She sends Cooke to take it out, and Manson follows this up with a Constructor to fortify the pool before ordering Cooke to deploy a Scavenger on it. Eventually, Manson orders a full assault on the Scion base; Cooke is given control over a Liberator Bomber and ordered to take out the Overseer Array. Upon the destruction of their base, the Scion forces activate a Wormhole Generator and flee through it. Under Braddock's orders, the ISDF forces pack up and follow them through, completely blind to what may be on the other side. Investigations on the Dark Planet reveal that the Scion presence there was not enough to constitute the main population (though some foundations of long-term buildings were found, indicating a potential colonisation effort), and more dead and dying Scions are found in the same conditions as on Pluto. Interestingly, amongst these foundations investigators find artefacts bearing the insignia of the ill-fated NSDF Black Dogs. Voyager II's remains are also found on the planet's surface, and examination of the wrecked hull indicates that it was destroyed by a Scion missile. Braddock's report to the AAN marks the Dark Planet and Scions as highly dangerous, and postures that they were planning to launch an invasion of Earth. Through the Looking Glass The journey through the wormhole proves rough, with several members of blue squad failing to survive the journey. Seeing this, much of the 2nd Fleet's staff begin to have doubts in his superior's orders. Fearing that the 1st and 2nd Fleets will be needed to defeat the Scions, Manson says he can no longer support Braddock's strategy, despite supporting the ideals. Braddock, meanwhile, receives an ominous Scion transmission claiming to be from the "Burns" he was attempting to contact previously. Now Braddock is on their territory, Burns says, his people are watching, and they will make Braddock proud. When the 2nd Fleet exits the wormhole, they find themselves nearby a jungle-covered planet they name Mire. There, they deploy troops to construct what will eventually become Beatrice Base, their main base of operations in the sector. Initially, Manson orders Shabayev to set up the Recycler, but Braddock calls her off to scout ahead and walks Cooke through the base building process instead. As Cooke begins erecting the base's defences, Shabayev reports that she has discovered what appears to be the ruins of an ancient alien city, but quickly finds herself in trouble when her tank is destroyed. Cooke immediately heads to her assistance, but the two find themselves cut off by Scion forces and are forced to take shelter in a nearby building. Investigation of the ruins reveals them to be from the Cthonian era, a finding further backed up by the discover of Cthonian script within. Trivia * Cooke is given access to an unrestricted Recycler on his first full command, despite being given limited ones further down the line. Get Help With Shabayev injured, the instability of the ruins making staying inside impossible, and Scion forces outside jamming their transmissions, Cooke has no choice but to attempt to make their way to Manson's nearby base on foot. Shabayev gives him a data collector she had been carrying in the hope that Manson can use it to locate the source of a large Scion energy signature she had detected nearby. Cooke waits until nightfall, then steals across Scion territory to Manson's base, dodging several patrols and evading pursuit. Preliminary investigation of the energy source suggest it could be a transmitter rooted into the core of the planet, potentially able to harness the entire planet's geothermal energy. Trivia * If Cooke approaches the energy signature, Shabayev comments that his suit is absorbing high levels of electrostatic radiation. The correct term is electro''magnetic'' radiation. * A helmetless model of Shabayev was created and animated for this mission, but was never used. Rumble in the Jungle Armed with the data from Shabayev's data recorder, the ISDF located the Scion energy source and Cooke is ordered to ensure that it is captured and dismantled. With thick vegitation and high canyon walls surrounding the Scion base, Manson suggests an areial assault instead of ground combat. Cooke delivers a small team to the perimeter of the Scion base Shabayev is quick to remind the lieutenant of her presence, who is keen to act on it and return her having already felt guilty about leaving her on her own. Once Cooke has destroyed the Scion base, Braddock congratulates the entire force and claims that further investigation of the energy source has revealed that it is part of a superweapon capable of destroying Earth. With one part captured and disabled by the confiscation of its power source, it should be possible to locate those that remain. Snow Blind A science team under Shabayev's command begin to make an independent analysis of the energy source on Mire; their findings mostly align with Braddock's, but whilst they agree it possible, they find no evidence that the machine is be a weapon. They also find that both it and the other buildings on Mire vastly predate any other known Scion construction, and soil samples reveal the planet's resources are near depletion. Shabayev, as a result, began to theorise that the Scions were in fact looking to colonise another similar garden world. Before the investigation can be completed, however, the scientist are removed from the site for security reasons. The ISDF soon locate another energy signature, similar to that found on Mire, on the nearby ice-planet Bane. Upon landing, Cooke is given the responsibility of setting up and defending a small base, but the discovery of an incoming Scion convoy soon forces him to break off to investigate. The convoy turns out to be a Scion Matriarch and its guard, and Cooke is eventually tasked to destroy this enemy Recycler. Realising that the cave the convoy passed through leaves Cooke's flank open to attack, Braddock orders him to drop a beacon by the tunnel opening so it can be bombed. As Cooke does so, Shabayev informs Braddock that a transmission being generated on the other side of the tunnel is interfering with their communications; Braddock orders Cooke to locate the source. Investigating, Cooke discovers the source in what appears to be a ruined alien citadel; Shabayev asks Cooke to scan anything that could look like a transmitter, but Braddock quickly cuts her off and orders the building bombed. The detonation and resultant tremor destroy several buildings in the area, and the cave collapses before Cooke can make his way back through, so Braddock diverts Cooke to an emergency dustoff site. Cooke is promoted to Commander in recognition of his bravery. Investigation of the ruins of the alien citadel turns up the damaged remains of the transmitter which, much like the artefacts found on the Dark Planet, bears the insignia of the Black Dogs. Trivia * When preparing the bombing of the tunnel, Braddock orders Cooke to build a bomber despite the limited tech tree not allowing for this. * Scanning the transmitter confirms that it is of Black Dog origin, with CCA encryption protocols installed. On Thin Ice Concerned with the increasing irregularity of Braddock's orders, Shabayev drafts a report to file with the AAN; unfortunately, the ISDF are unable to make contact, but a report is submitted to the general's office. The Scions, however, are able to make contact with the AAN; the ISDF intercept a transmission between Burns - the Scion Padishah - and Ambassador Kossieh, which describes a series of secret biometal experiments run by Braddock and invites him to enter peace talks on Rend. During a half-day in the infirmary recovering from the incident in the citadel ruins, Cooke reflects on the suspicious circumstances in which he has found himself. He has no time to act before he returns to duty, but on his first command his dropship crashes following an engine failure and he is knocked unconscious. When he comes to, he finds one of his wingmen dead and the other trying to find him. His wingman informs him that he hasn't been able to raise the other teams, and suggests they make their way to the original drop-zone, at the same time pointing out that the crashed ship could give away their location to the enemy. En route to the landing site, Cooke and his wingman encounter the Recycler they were to use and an accompanying cargo transport, which also suffered a dropship crash. The recycler is surrounded by thin ice, with only a narrow traversable path between it and the dropzone, and radar failure has left its driver is unable to navigate it alone. Cooke is required to help direct the recycler through the ice field to the base site. Once they get there and are able to call a dropship to extract them,they are informed that Shabayev's dropship also went down in the same area and given orders to locate it. Once Cooke does so, however, Shabayev does not respond, and Cooke is left with no choice but to escort the transport to the dust-off site. Investigation attributes the destruction on Cooke's two dropships to the Scions, as they had strayed too close to the Scion base to remain undetected. Before any investigation can be made into the destruction of Shabayev's dropship, however, Braddock scales back intelligence manpower in order to further boost front-line forces. He declares Shabayev's dropship shot down by a Scion missile in the same manner as Cooke's, but no evidence is presented to support his claim. When Shabayev's Sabre is pulled from the wreckage, she is declared dead. Counterattack The recycler Cooke recovered was initially intended to replace one that had been lost at Manson's base near the Bane device, which Cooke was initially intended to deal with; the high casualty rates of the dropship crashes complicated matters, and Cooke is instead diverted to help recapture the base, which has since become overrun by Scion forces. When Cooke is air-dropped into the base, he finds its power supplies have been taken out and its scrap supply is running dangerously low. Once he has brought its defences back online, Cooke focuses on the Scion device; neutralising the defences nearby, he escorts a Tug to it and removes the crystal supplying power to it before it is delivered back to Mire. Scientists examining the deactivated device conclude that the system's planets are too small to support more than one each; this means there can be no more than three. Payback Ambassador Kossieh's carrier, where the peace talks are to be held, arrives over Rend and a delegation is sent down to meet the Scion Padishah as the Ambassador prepares to remove ISDF forces from the system. Braddock is not best pleased, and accuses Kossieh of cowardice and collusion with the enemy and warns him that they will turn on him, while at the same time placing Cooke on the reception party. With another investigation now underway under Kossieh, Braddock is suspended pending court-martial. Manson, who supports Kossieh's intent to put the General on trial, reveals that the Scions were known to be on the Dark Planet long before the ISDF constructed a base on Pluto. Everything goes to plan as the Scion leader is escorted to an ISDF dropship and delivered up towards the carrier, but the dropship violently explodes moments before entering the carrier's hangar. Crippled, the carrier begins to succumb to the planet's gravity and falls from the sky. Panicked, the delegation ask each other what to do before Braddock orders them to escape to the south. A fire-fight breaks out, and the rest of the reception party (which also included Major Manson) is shot down by Scion forces. Braddock informs Cooke that there is a Recycler ready and waiting for him in the south east, and tells him the Scions must have booby-trapped the envoy vehicle. Cooke is given orders to build up his forces and then return to the Scion base to capture the power source of the third device, which is nearby. Once the crystal is safely captured, Braddock commends Cooke and awards him another promotion to Major. With no forces available to rescue Manson, his squad were eventually overwhelmed, and they were presumed dead when radio contact with them stopped. Kossieh's body was discovered amongst the wreckage of the carrier, and whilst Burns is also presumed dead, his corpse has yet to be found. Fanning the Fire With Kossieh dead, the AAN temporarily halt court martial proceedings and, with nobody else in the area to lead the ISDF forces, Braddock steps back into his former position. Once reinstated, he orders a site-wide excavation of the crash area, with Major Cooke in command. Realising the price his promotion has cost him, Cooke swears to build a memorial to all those lost in the fighting if he ever returns back to Earth. Once on the ground, Cooke deploys his Recycler and begins constructing a base. Braddock informs him of activity near the crash site and, investigating, Cooke finds a Hauler making off with the remains of Burns' envoy vehicle. The Hauler is destroyed and Cooke eventually captures Burns, bringing him back to his base. As Cooke reaches the base, a voice over the radio claiming to be Shabayev implores him to stop, and moments later one of his men informs him that the Scions have stopped fighting. The Shabayev tells him to stay where he is; they are on the way to him. A Scion Warrior soon arrives, and Shabayev tells him she found out the truth about the Scions. She claims Braddock tried to kill her by sabotaging her dropship to keep her silent, and orchestrated the destruction of Kossieh's carrier the same way. Braddock interrupts, and orders Cooke to destroy the Warrior, claiming it to be a trick. Shabayev protests, and begs Cooke to bring Burns and follow her. New Regime Campaign Cooke obliterates the Scion craft, leaving no evidence of its existence behind. Burns, meanwhile, is taken to another ISDF base for interrogation by Braddock. The interrogation sessions are kept closed, and no medical reports are filed by the doctors tending to the captured leader, though his human-like appearance is noted as a point of some interest. Cooke's loyalty to Braddock is affirmed and he joins the New Regime. Scion Campaign Cooke orders the tug carrying Burns to follow Shabayev, who leads him to a lake where a hidden path emerges from below on their approach. On the other side, secret tunnel entrance rises out of a rock face. Once through the tunnels and at a Scion base, Shabayev reveals to Cooke a collection of stolen documents which proved that Braddock was indeed responsible for Kossieh's murder, alongside the attempted murders of Shabayev and Manson. Whilst the missiles used were of Scion design, they had been fired by Braddock's own hit squad. Cooke pledges his allegiance to the Scion cause and becomes part of the Scion Convergence. Category:Storyline